Oldies Upgrade?

[Garrett]

Garrett, I don't believe they picked up the "Hit Radio" moniker until they actually changed the calls to WHTT. When they were WEEI I remember they were softer, but kept leaning it more and more Top 40 as they came closer to the flip.

I have a couple airchecks of them using "Hitradio" as WEEI-FM, from 1982, I believe.

I know for a fact that they used that name, becuae I too have an unscoped aircheck with Rod West on it from the WEEI FM days!

 

[SheaTheDJ]

The aircheck of the WEEI-FM to WHTT is posted on FormatChange.com.

http://www.formatchange.com/1033-weei-fm-becomes-hitradio-whtt/

Can you tell me how to play it? I can't figure it out.

They seem to be having problems with FLASH. It was working a few days ago so it's probably just a temporary problem. I think WHTT went on the air a few months before I was born. I wish I was around - it sounded like a great station!!

 

[Garrett]

WHTT was on the air when I went to Maine for camp in May 1986. When I came back in July, WHTT was gone, and that AWFUL, NASTY ROTTEN STANKIN' NO GOOD EXCUSE FOR A RADIO STATION WMRQ was on the air. Comming back home that July, I distinctly remember this black billboard with blue and green lettering on Route 3, just north of the Charles river interchange that said "Q103, Boston's Quality Rock, WMRQ"

And that's how I found out that WHTT was gone.

 

[Retro]

There is a sound check that was mentioned in forums about their flip from WHTT to WMRQ. Do not remember where or who though.

 

[Retro]

WMRQ 1986-1987. I think their positioner was quality rock.

Yes, it was their stab at a "Triple A" (Adult Album Alternative) format, back when WBOS was still Country, and WXRV "The River" was still WLYT ("Light FM") Soft AC. Though there was no other such station in the market at that time, I don't recall that WMRQ was very successful.

If I remember correctly, the switch from WMRQ to WODS was abrupt, to prevent another full-power FM station (I think it was WBOS??) from going FM Oldies at the time. There was no FM Oldies station in the Boston market when 103.3 made the switch. WZLX was playing Classic Hits (Classic Rock with a few pop and soul oldies hits mixed in, sort of like WROR now), but they went fully Classic Rock shortly thereafter. Greater Media's 1150 WMEX (now Salem's WTTT) was all Oldies at the time in AM Stereo, but that signal couldn't compete with a full-power Oldies FM. WBOS ended up going "Triple A" a little while after 103.3 abandoned that format for Oldies.

I read in Billboard that CBS was busy flipping all their major FM's to Oldies stations. I thought that was quite odd, why would they flip WMRQ so soon?